12.17.2007

Shiva Bhairava - The naked mendicant

The form of Bhairava is considered to be fierce and terrific, one that infuses more fear than love towards Lord Shiva. Bhairava is known to be a naked mendicant or at least follows the same iconographic appearance as Bhikshatana where he is depicted ash clad and naked.

As described in the Shivabhaktavilasam, Dabhra Bhakta, an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva was being tested for his devotion to the Lord. In order to show Parvati the intensity of Dabhra Bhakta's devotion, Lord Shiva descended to the earth in the form of Bhairava to his residence. Dabhra Bhakta, unaware that the very Lord had descended, was blessed to have seen this form of the Lord and as he directed the stranger who had come begging for a meal. As he guided his guest back home, he describes his appearance as follows:

He appeared to be a staunch Maheshwar, with the very grace of Lord Shiva shining upon him, a stranger who had come to this little town, and had knocked at his door asking for a meal. As Dabhra Bhakta was not at home, the mendicant went to the nearby Ganapateshwara temple and waited. On hearing about his arrival, Dabhra Bhakta rushed to the temple to invite the mendicant home. As he neared the temple he saw an aged man sitting under a tree and meditating. His left elbow was supported by a Yogadanda his staff, and he had a Brahma Kapala (skull cap that serves as a begging bowl) near his right hand which was engaged in counting the beads of his rudraksha rosary as he chanted within his mind. His effulgence beat the very beams of sunlight that lit up the day. He looked aged and yet very rugged. He was ash clad and in deep meditation when the invitation for a meal was brought over to him.

He rose up from his seat in all his majesty and grandeur. He took out a handful of ash from the pouch in front of him and smeared it all over himself, forming a little cloud of holy ash that almost crowned his brow like a halo. He help the kapalam and skull bowl in one hand and played the damaru in the other hand creating a sound so loud and terrific that it echoed his arrival through the little town. He wore a waist band of skulls which rubbed against each other as he walked on gracefully. His thick silver tresses were neatly held up tightly in his elaborate jatamukuta which he tied with a garland of smaller skulls. He was smeared with red gorochana on his forehead and it seemed like the fiery third eye spread fear over his brow while his eyes showed great compassion to the world. And as he walked, his over sized anklets tinkled on manifesting the primeval nada - the cosmic vibration.

That was Bhairava then, depicted in scriptures and sung about and probably He walked this very earth in the previous yugas. A depiction so clear that it became the definition of "Shivahood" among the yogis of the coming centuries. The yogi attire has not changed much since then, though with a few alterations to the described visual appeal. But none have come even close to matching the Lord's form, His beauty, his very presence that reflects in the eyes of the aspirant, one who has immersed himself completely into the worship and love for the Lord, living in a real trance as he journeys into His adoration.

These are the possible appearances of Bhairava today, those that somewhere remotely match the Lord's original splendor but seem to have lost the essence of His presence in their eyes!

46 comments:

Once someone were to understand that earth was called Shiva’s prototype (althouth it is illusory today), perhaps then it is not difficult to understand ‘sky’ or the dark space that appears blue during the day, as one of the panch-bhootas, as His clothing, and Him therefore called Digambar. Jains also consider Shiva as their first Thithankar. The ash applied on the body refers to ‘earth’, i.e., dust on earth’s surface…

As we have seen earlier also, Bhairava refers to the new-born infant who is still attached to its mother, as reflected by its desription, i.e., the naked Mendicant like figure attached (with a leash) to the dog - still to be separated from its mother!

Perhaps everyone knows that all humans are born Naked, irrespective of their parents’ caste, belief, and so on!

However, on account of mischievousness of ‘Krishna’ (who is accepted only by a ‘true’ or ‘firm believer like King Harishchandra – while passing through thick or thin – to reside within all physical forms, as reflected more in the form of infants, say up to six months, or as believed by ‘wise advanced Hindus’, when their ‘teething troubles’ start, i.e., when one, like King Bhoja of Dhar, is initiated into King Vikramaditya’s throne of 32 idols or ‘ghosts’ who examine one to assess if one is eligible to occupy the throne or not...

They later apparently get ‘trained’ by the ‘grown ups’ who themselves ‘unfortunately for the kids’ are a confused lot ‘today’ – like the proverbial ‘wise men of Gotham’!

It’s well known that just a single word can take an individual’s mind to various directions and to varying heights depending on one’s inclination of mind depending on his temporal and spatial location and ‘upbringing’ etc. – innumerable factors – thus resulting in innumerable versions of the same phenomenon (as per design!), expressed in the saying, “Hari ananta/ Hari katha ananta…”

Without the background knowledge of the essence of Hindu Mythology, a ‘physically mature’ but ‘mentally immature’ individual, a born Hindu even, would immediately - like the typical ‘westerner’ because of Natkhat Nandlal’s design - would read ‘Bhairava Shiva the naked mendicant (who seduced Brahmin Women)’, a phenomenon that simply describes our earth absorbing innumerable sunrays or ‘Saraswati the Goddess of learning’, who ‘all are married to Sun that is Brahma’, one of the three aspects of ‘Trimurty’ who alone reflects in physical form the ‘unborn and unending’ Formless Creator!

And, even when Trimurty Shiva grew up (‘in the mind of the Formless’, that is, Bhootnath), being alone He has only the sky as His garment!

The Digamber Jain ‘munis’ (although the word ‘muni’ is derived from ‘maun’ or silence, thus conveys one who doesn’t speak - perhaps because he has realized the ‘Absolute Truth’ of all physical forms as mere images of the one only Formless supreme being – but appear in Kaliyuga to give discourses in public ‘in their birth suits’/ Nagas the ‘naked saints or Sadhus’ who generally appear in public during Kumbh Melas or some such religious occasions only and who apparently are ‘brahmacharis’ that is those who have controlled their physical senses and thus are able to remain in natural environment even in the Himalayas, believing Shiva-Parvati also to similarly reside on top of the Mount Kailash!

The Tibetan Lamas also similarly even today have demonstrated to the ‘curious west’ how they can sustain the freezing cold in the Himalayas…As per popular beliefs, a Lama was selected for training only if his body was hot enough to bake a roti from the dough stuck to his body (and some other tests)!And, through dialogues between Krishna & Arjuna the ‘wise advanced Hindus’ conveyed human form to be a ‘mere instrument’ of the Supreme Being who in indestructible…

I saw a lot of pictures of these Nagababas along the river ganges in Alahabad, Prayag and Varanasi. They are a strange kinda people, who surface once in a while and in a country so hypocritical towards nudity etc... these people are a class apart.

Its strange that in a society where modesty and nudity are taboo we have naked men walking around like its all a part of life!

On the other end, anything works in religion and faith. So should every one be left to their way of life or should there be rules for the greater good of society?

Kavitha, the question would be considered good, or applicable, only if man were to be the ‘real doer’, and not God or the formless creator - as per the ‘Absolute Truth’ communicated through ‘wise advanced Indians or Hindus’.

Man appears (as the story of the past) to constantly, as a continuous process, make Laws & Acts and their amendments, in innumerable Languages and in different fields of activity that by design cannot be ‘perfect’ - due to lack of the ‘Sixth Sense’ in the majority…

Analogously, it is reflected in a spider spinning webs with thin silken threads that are easily broken, (by elephants, as indicated in mythological stories), but the spider doesn’t give up, because of incorporation of ‘hunger’ – of stomach and also of the mind - in animals as part of the grand design)…

Man, believably being the superior most form, in human life the essence is communicated in the saying, “Lock breaker is always ahead of the lock maker”. And, as realized in the present also, there is a constant struggle observed between the ‘creative’ and ‘destructive forces’ in ‘Nature’, such that the predominanat force eventually prevails.

According to the realization of advanced ‘Hindus’, animal forms are mere instruments that, in reality, act as spectators or witnesses to the drama in ‘animal life’ (as media for Bhootnath), which is linked with the infinite and unending Cosmos/ Earth, that is, ‘Nature’.

Nature is functioning like an open book in which History of the Formless Creator of physical forms is recorded - right from the zero stage or absolute imperfection to infinity or perfection that is immortality achieved even in physical form also in the long lost past by the formless...Just as man-made (though imperfect because of time and related evoltion) films are similarly seen again and again - as its reflection...

Kavitha, in the message box, someone, Rosamoncada, from Italy has sought to know ‘the mantra for healing’.

The present day advancement in apparent knowledge - in the ‘material world’ - being achieved through the west’s attempt to overcome difficulties encountered during space travel, and consequently finding application of those advancements in technology also in day-to-day life progressively, suggests similar advancement to have been made by the ‘advanced Indians’ in the ‘spiritual’ field with their basic realization of illusory physical world to have been created by use of sound energy rpresented by ‘OM’ - as the Brahmanad - or ‘Big Bang’ in the words of the ‘west’…

The treatment of illnesses through use of stainless steel needles, or Acupuncture, even today from considerations of economy, suggests possibility of apparent clearance of blockages in various channels (believably 12 in numbers) on either side of the human body to manifest in some illness or malfunctioning of the human body as an instrument that functions on cosmic energy.

However, as personally tried on my wife who was afflicted with Rheumatoid Arthritis, although initially there was some improvement in mobility, I was told by the practitioner that permanent damage already set in can’t be reversed and regular use might help in maintenance of the disease at the level of deterioration that had already set in.

Of course, it’s also a fact that not many people who are well trained and are skilled in the art might be available in ‘India’ in the ‘present’ that, in fact, is the remotest past in the unending life of Shiva in Kaliyuga the ’dark age’.

It is also perhaps like Buddhism that originally had roots in India but virtually disappeared from here after it found roots elsewhere – just as the ‘present day’ roots of Homo sapiens are believably realized in the African Continent, whereas it apparently started from Kashi!

Osho, (lie an acronym for ‘OM Shanti OM’), that is, known originally as Acharya Rajneesh also said to the effect that the words in the mantra per se don’t have much significance. It is the intonation of the mantra in a defined manner as developed by sages, (in a neat and clean environment), which attract good spirits who are ever present in the environment, and being selfless themselves would do no harm to other selfless pesons, and might do some good only.

The basic thought that is conveyed is to attempt reaching a ‘thoughtless stage’ to tune with the Formless Creator or Bhootnath, literally the ‘Lord of Ghosts’ (or Past) by the concerned while chanting say ‘OM’ so as not to allow the attention to ger diverted.

Kavitha, say during the apparent tiring weeks or months in day-to-day life, every human being needs a change from the routine. Let us say that with that objective in mind someone visits a zoo, or a museum, and spends a few hours there, which while providing the desired break from the monotony broadens the horizon of his/ her knowledge too, although one eventually must return to the life that is believably normal to him/ her, perhaps thus unconcerned with the problems faced by animals and their keepers alike in their day-to-day routine works! Generally the shortcomings, however, get highlighted by other sources though, such as print or electronic media that too related with a particular region at a particular cross-section of time. Thus unless one personally does in-depth study, maybe from theknowledge collected from various sources, one doesn’t get to know the various possible view-points with the constantly changing environment, from the apparent imperfect beginning to its eventual evolved stage, just as the scriptures indicate Nadbindu (as the imaginary centre of our planet earth or the point source of infinite energy) to have evolved to the composite Ganadhara Earth (Shiva!) located within our Milky Way Galaxy. It can be imagined as a phenomenon similar to a diver finding a rare pearl inside a particular Oyster’s mouth out of many picked up by him, which is known to be formed by an irritant in the form of some dust particle! And, this oyster is known to have lain in the ‘sea’ that is formed by innumerable galaxies and their grand clusters within the infinite void of the universe!

In our school days, we had a teacher that used to lay emphasis on ‘CONCLUSION’. it’s a different matter that having been born and brought up in pre-partition Punjab and worked there till partition of ‘India’, he spoke English as it was spoken in that region and, therefore, he used to pronounce it as ‘cun-cu-lui-yun’, which to our ‘North Indian’ ears even sounded funny, but ‘discipline’ and ‘danda’ or leather covered baton that ‘he used as his weapon’ (like only the handle of Hanuman's or Bhima's mace, in Kaliyuga the poorest of the yugas or eras!) suppressed our laughter. Of course, we made fun of our other class fellows.

My Punjabi friends would invariably pronounce ‘Tilak’ (in Hindi) as ‘Tilk’ and ‘Silk’ (in English) as ‘Silak’. I, therefore, asked a colleague later how was it that when they could speak ‘Silak’, what problem did they have in pronouncing Tilak as Tilak (like calling a spade a spade!

After partition 'we', who found ourselves in New Delhi then, were exposed to this sort of featur in many other peculiarities, which when analyzed properly, however, can be observed in any language also. For example, ‘my’ French language teacher also was impressed with the 'content' of my essays etc. on certain subjects and read some of those for the benefit of other students also (of course after making cetain corrections!), and once asked me to read a lesson, and concluded that although my French was good, still there was a 'foreign accent' in my speech)…

My daughter says ‘I’ am like her daughter - both of us go off tangentially when some simple question is asked! Just as this peculiarity in the teacher apparently diverted ‘my’ mind, similarly perhaps, as per the grand universal design, there are innumerable forms that help divert our attention from our objective, which therefore need midway correction to come to the right track!

The conclusion to the oyster and pearl relationship, in a few words, is that a simple and ‘taken for granted’ animal form turns a mere dust particle (that forms he beautiful land) into a beautiful creation that finds appreciation from one and all in the human species as 'a piece of art' that has some 'curative properties' too and this finds use, since time immemorial, in Ayurvedic medicines also, besides finding use as a semi-precious gem through some appreciative eye realized to represent one of the planets as its essence or model!

And not only that, the ones that do not contain pearl inside them end up in resturants in Europe, as a ‘deliciious food item' for consumptin by ‘westerners’ in raw form itself – like a fruit!

Many Hindu mythological characters, although realized as the ‘most evolved souls of their time’, are depicted by artists to sport pearl necklaces, which apparently help improve their exterior also, which alone is visible to 'imperfect' human eyes!

As believed, as a realized ‘universal essence’, “The east is east and the west is west/ never the twain shall meet”'.

However, although the ‘present day Scientists in the west’ and the ‘copy cats in the east’ apparently are convinced of ‘evolution of species’ only as they see only through the eyes of a ‘known western historical character’, Darwin.

Like a ‘blinkered horse’ - perhaps as part of a grand design - and a naturally rebelious child, they do not accept any other documents available, and also produced as evidence, such as the Gita, that indirectly indicate the ‘Truth’ to have been already known to ‘humans’, not only in the ‘east’ but also apparently accepted by all inhabitants of the entire globe at a certain point in ‘time’…thus indicating that ‘east’ meets ‘west’ – but only at the time of start of ‘churning’ afresh by Krishna and realization occurring only in Yogis when they reached ‘zero thought’ in ‘meditation’ irrespective of their location at any other too…

The ‘Hindus’ attributed this feature of 'illusion' to the inherent characteristic property of time that is reckoned in terms of long duration of time - in four stages - called Yugas that run into millions of years in one Mahayuga, that is, one cycle of all four stages that each were defined to have different characteristics.

This reasoning attempted to explain the observed life of solar system, found even today, as around 4.6 billion years and taken for granted to continue as such in human life too by those who apparently are ‘after the event wise’.

Despite UNO, WARS are being planned in the minds of ‘extemists’ and continued to be fought in some part or the other every second!

And we call ourselves an ‘advanced civilization’ although we fail to see the ‘Truth’ despite ‘super intellient men’, and even geniuses - who aren’t copied by gen next!

This was attributed to ‘Maya’ created by the Formless Creator – who, in reality, alone matters, while man is made to ‘chase the crooked shadows’ only for the purpose known to Him only!

Everyone related with the ‘search’ or ‘research’ from scratch - in the ‘present’ on ‘origin of life on earth’ - although sees signs of ‘evolution’ in the environment, however, limits the study today to ‘life forms’ only - as different from the ‘non living’ that is considered covered in ‘Nature’ or the ‘natural elements’.

Thus, apparently, man remains engaged as if in a battle with the ‘natural elements’ as man’s opponent or adversary, and hoping against hope believes he would eventually emerge as winner!

The phenomenon is perhaps analogous to the ‘cat and mouse game’…

From ‘my’ personal experience of watching in the boyhood our pet cat, necessity felt on account of rat menace observed in a house that we occupied and which had remained unoccupied for long.

She turned out to be a great hunter who not only finished rats in our residence, but also was in great demand in other houses too in the government colony.

A stage arrived when, like 'Naga head hunters' of yester-years, she started bringing home, for our usual entertainment, even birds that she would finish off under the low settee or ‘divan’, her usual dining space.

She one day brought home a big lizard even! I was afraid she might die if it happened to be poisonous! I was relieved and happy that the lizard outwitted her, for like she used to play with rats and mice, till they appeared as if virtually ‘cooked’ and stopped moving, she left the lizard also free while acting as if asleep (like Vishnu believably does!).

The lizard stood still for a few seconds and suddenly accelerated its engine and was out of the house before she could realize that her meal was lost – it had shot like a ball struck by Dhoni that doesn’t give enough perception time to the fielder to move from his position!

Maybe it was a hint from ‘Nature’ about its modus operandi - after all it acts as a 'magican' too!

Krishna - the 8th and the only lucky infant of Devki-Vasudeva to have believably escaped from his maternal uncle Kansa’s confinement of his parents in a prison immediately after its birth, to eventually get adopted by Yashoda-Nand as his foster parents – with the background knowledge that ‘life on earth’ evolved in sea, says in the Gita that among the aquatic animals, that is, ‘fish’, he is a crocodile, called ‘magar-machha’ that’s a fish or ‘matsya’ that perhaps evolved into a domesticated animal called lizard that perhaps thus got adopted in certain temples - as a symbol of good luck!

The story related with elephant and crocodile, that is ‘Gaja & Graha perhaps shows the relationship between planet Saturn and Mars as reaized by Yogis…that we have seen in details earlier elsewhere too…in relation with ‘Moksha’ or ‘libeation’ of souls…

Thanks to my newspaper ‘I’ learnt that today it is ‘Gita Jayanti’, the birth anniversary of 'Mischievous Krishna', literally a ‘dark skinned’, and in reality an unseen and unknown ‘Divine person’!

In the ‘Krishnaleela’ or His illusory drama, He, however, acts in His innumerabe forms or ‘images’.

As relatively inferior illusory or ‘mayavi’ Neelamber the one who wears ‘blue garments’ reflected by the ‘Sky’, one of the ‘panch-bhootas’ or five elements of ‘Trimurty Shiva’, He believably controls the direction ‘West’ (as Venus) while, as the superior most Peetamber, that is, the one who wears Yellow garments, He rules the North (as Moon), the direction where Shiva’s head exists (in the North Pole)!

As ‘Raktamber’ the one who wears red garments He rules the ‘East’ (as ‘fire’ in earth’s heart) and as ‘Shwetamber’ the one who wears white garments He rules the ‘South’ (as Sun, or ‘fire’ in the sky – the head of Brahma!), the base or South Pole, that is, Antarctica that apparently controls the seasons!

Krishna through NASA (in Hindi ‘nasha’ means destruction!) earlier predicted likely submergence of planet earth - due to global warming and the consequent snow-melt in the Arctic region - by the year 2040, which created a sense of availability of sufficient time on hand to apply corrective measures.

However, suddenly, the date recently is revised to 2012 based on present rate of snow-melt!

Knowing the mischievous nature of ‘Krishna’, the ancient Hindus - with purpose of man to realize the Formless God and all physical forms as His Own images - said, to the effect, “What you want done tomorrow/ Do it today. And whatever you want done today/ Do it just now! For ‘Pralaya’ or Doom’s Day could occur any moment”!

However, Krishna (as representative of Formless Creator, Vishnu or Shiva) advises His devotee not to be afraid of ‘death’, because the stories convey that by the end of the fourth stage of churning of the milky ocean ‘amrit’ was already received by the variety of souls with forms even - ‘selfless’ or ‘devtas’; and some ‘selfish’, or demons, that is, ‘rakshashas’, also to a limited extent - reflected by the members of the solar system, some of whom are ‘hot’, that give spiritual energy, some are of an opposite nature, that is, ‘cold’, and some are neutral…that render similar properties in their typical models also…

It is their models in animal forms that appear to continue to descend on earth, play their assigned roles, and exit from the stage (or Earth) – maybe to reappear in some cyclic order immediately or after some ‘rest’…all the drama appearing in the mind’s eye of the characters as they were at some particular time in the past!

The phenomenon apparntly finds reflection of viewing projection of a Bollywood/ Hollywood/ Lollywood, and so on. film ‘on silver screen’ – be it ‘good’, ‘so-so’ or ‘bad’ because of helplessness due to hierarchy in ‘Nature’ and ‘concerned time’ to which the film belongs!

The phenomenon is perhaps also better visualized with reference to one’s own photographs – imagined available in one’s exclusive album that were taken at regular intervals, at different places and in different dresses and so on, right from one’s birth to the present.

A young, healthy and normal, person can perhaps appreciate that he/ she cannot relate the person in the photograph at say 3 years of age to have been capable of doing what one can do today. While an old person also similarly cannot imagine he/ she can, or could have, done what he/ she did at his/ her prime time. But, one could enjoy that achievement, whatever it might have been, even today…by recalling that image in his mind’s eye…That's what He is perhaps doing, for the purpose knon to Him only...

And, one thing that appears to be a possible purpose could perhaps be visualized from the fact that although whatever a single person alone can do - to the best of his physical and mental capacity at a given point in time – would naturally be acceptable to him/ her. But, in order to know whether it is the absolutely best possible, or not, can be known only when there is competition – healthy or otherwise.

And, therefore, there must be many alternatives of the same creation related to the particular field concerned. And, no one can deny that ‘Nature’ is absolutely perfect, unmatchable by ‘present day’ human, who appears to head the animal world at all times, but tends to overlook the contribution made by various elements that have gone into his/ her particular creation, without which he/ she couldn’t have moved even an inch in that direction.

And, then one would perhaps come to the eernal question: Who am I? The creation for which ‘I’ give credit to ‘myself’ wouldn’t have been possible had myself - the temporary physical form - not been present on apparently near permanent earth at the particular period in time, which is just like ‘a flash in the pan’!However, ‘I’ must be here to make some useful contribution perhaps in order to make sustenance of earth itself!

And when ‘we’ look at an infant, no average normal man would perhaps be able to predict what the particular individual’s contribution would be, i.e., would it be positive, or negative, or it would be just like that of those who appear to participate in different races, but never receive any award (like an ass/ the beautiful flowers that bloom in the desert, perhaps unseen and unknown).

Or when we look at even a very old man - or later imagine looking at him only or his image as one existed once – perhaps unimaginable when historians tell us what the particular individual had achieved, or what he/ she apparently did at a particular point in time in the past!

Idols of Shiva’s family in Babulnath Temple in Mumbai gave ‘me’ - and perhaps it does to others also - a similar feeling perhaps reflected in the mind of the sculpteur/ idol maker to communicate that God, i.e., Bhootnath Shiva in various forms, i.e., His bhootas, uses earth as a stage, or a museum, or a video library to exhibit ‘His stories’, which also gets reflected in record kept by humans, i.e., history…

However, we are given to refer those ‘reels’ in the reverse order of time, from perfect stage to imperfect stage, and that too that pertain to the era concerned in which a particular soul finds onself to be!

Thus, it was conveyed through ‘wise men of India’, (and not those from the ‘west’, viz. the ’proverbial wise men of Gotham’, each of whom apparently didn’t count the self, or God who believably resides within each human!), to seek Him within one, instead of running around the whole world, because each oneself is a model or image of God! Of, course, the running around also serves the purpose of collection of information to form hte base for 'meditation' at the appropriate time...

Like the once famous saying, “All roads lead to Rome”, there could be various approaches to imagine the ideal stage in the mind of the Creator. For example, a History teacher in school and one of our relatives in the ‘golden days’ – visualizing himself as a farmer and students’ brain as barren plots - reportedly used to tell the students in ‘my’ home-town that teachers go on sowing the seeds with only one objective in mind - making them good citizens in future hoping that, at the appropriate time, some of those seeds would germinate and give healthy food for the generality of people! The various food items also were similarly believed to generate different thoughts in the mind of the consumer, categorized as Tamasic, Rajasic and Sattvic, the three types that each person is obliged to perform, for there believably is no escape, however, an individual would get categorized based on what actions are predominantly performed by one… Krishna says that he has made only two basic typical characters – the selfish and the selfless! (And the latter category is preferred by Bhootnath, for He alone is purely selfless!)…

The Creator was realized by Yogis as Formless, or the one who is pure energy, magnetism-like gravity in Heavenly Bodies, that believably was realized as ‘soul’ in human form also, it being a model that reflected similar properties as the composite earth & moon. The lower body was realized formed of six essences of nine numbers selected members of the solar system with ‘overall control resting with essence of Mars’ at the base, called ‘mooladhar’ to which is also attached the essence of Saturn also, but in a ‘dormant form’ – thus needing activation by Yogis…The head and the neck together believably contained essences of Venus in the neck, functioning like a check-post, and Earth as the ‘third eye’ and Moon in the brain…Child Krishna believably was a ‘hatth-yogi’ and therefore he reportedly wanted Yashoda-Nanada to provide him only Moon as his toy or a plaything even as a child, (while average child today wants a gun only)! Yogiraja Krishna, of course, indirectly hinted, for the benefit of an average man at any time, one to be like Lakshamana (Rama’s younger brother), that is, one who has the objective of attaining perfection in mind, and that’s how finally he was successful in attaining perfection in physical forms also as Shiva, his supreme form composed of the five elements or ‘panch-bhootas’ as the Yogeshwar - the Yogi of yogis who is always in ‘samadhi’ or zero thought state or a super conscious state so that ‘He could, by remote control while seated on top of Mount Kailash, direct Krishna and his images to weed out the unwanted plants’ at appropriate points of times - particularly at the ends of each Yuga! Of course, once perfection was achieved in the apparent present one believably gets to see only the past, but which appears to be the ‘Truth’!

Maybe now, with the above as background, one could perhaps attempt what the purpose of the Creator could have been. One thing perhaps is given as a hint by Yogis - who appear to have been far superior compared to the present day human race, irrespective of the existence of ‘award winners’ – He is looking inwards, and that too, perhaps particularly, at ‘His Own images’, just as man, particularly ‘body builders’/ ‘models’, and also all other women spend more time in front of the mirror to see how they would appear to the onlookers!

But, as per the Yogis, He apparently judges one from one’s mind’s eye - reviewing them with His Third Eye, that is, Earth within which exist the constituent members of the animal world! He was thus believed to see everyone with one eye!

The Yogis therefore appear to have prepared their eyes, for similar function, by an exercise called ‘Tratak’ (‘trat’ means that which is protected or saved), where under the guidance of a proper Guru, besides learning as a prerequisite performance of many other exercises related with development of eye muscles, the student is asked to look at a candle’s flame (which is yellow coloured in appearance) for some time and then see its saved image, or perception, with closed eyes that lasts for some time only, perhaps in order to activate the ‘Ajna Chakra’…with a view to activating the ‘Mooladhar chakra’ for ‘enlightenment’!

The basic idea being to lift the total energy/ information believably recorded in all eight chakras to a point in the head...

However, the stories also cite examples of children, viz. Prahlad, Dhruva etc. who at a very young age received the believable enlightenment, which the story of Krishna also indicates him as an exceptionally lucky and miraculous child even when he apparently appeared in Dwaper-yuga, which believably is the middle stage. And in Gita he says that anybody could reach Him, with the only condition that one must surrender all one’s actions in him first!

However, the stories also cite examples of children, viz. Prahlad, Dhruva etc. who at a very young age received the believable enlightenment, which the story of Krishna also indicates him as an exceptionally lucky and miraculous child even when he apparently appeared in Dwaper-yuga, which believably is the middle stage. And in Gita he says that anybody could reach Him, with the only condition that one must surrender all one’s actions in him first!

But, in the ‘present’ that was, in fact, the ‘past’ in the life of Krishna the churner, when he had just started the churning, obviously the ‘characters’ in human form even were all ‘wilder’, as obviously seen ‘today’, just as one finds ‘wild animals’ in the forests at all times. Even ‘today’, experts, or Gurus in different fields, are seen, whose job it is to tame the ‘wild animals’, be they humans, tigers, elephants, horses, and many other species that perform in Circus, say, and so on!

Kavitha, in the space for messages one Shri Shreeram Balijepalli has drawn your attention to a site where, as per him, articles on similar topics etc, and ‘Srividya way of worship’ etc is given, copy shown below. 21 Dec 07, 03:12shreeram Balijepalli: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru this is the link..21 Dec 07, 03:12shreeram Balijepalli: Please join the group Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru where you will find articles on similar topics and on Tantra and kundalini shakthi,healing mantras,processes and nuances of Srividya way of worship,etc21 Dec 07, 03:08shreeram Balijepalli: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru

Unfortunately I couldn’t get connected to the site when I attempted a few minutes ago. It is surprising that despite such expertise available in ‘India’ itself why there are millions of patients in the country who suffer physical pain from chronic diseases, and many other ‘incurable diseases’ whose numbers and patients affected (indirectly their relatives also) by those are increasing. Our Health Minister, a medicine man himself, is seen getting frustrated in all his apparent efforts to set right the system, and in frustration - as reported by the media – is blaming surgeons and doctors, degree holders like himself (who may even be of world repute), and even his colleagues in the field of ‘political administration’ thus reflecting, similarly, an infant-like (or old-people-like) helplessness of the representative of people who are at the helms of affairs of the country.Maybe, it’s high time that ‘we the people’ surrendered in Krishna!

The ‘wise advanced Hindus’, therefore, advised one to seek God/ Durga within oneself, based on similar experiences and thereby reaching realization of the ‘Absolute truth’ of one and only Creator, who cannot ever be reached by an average man with the help of the ‘God given’ or ‘natural’ five numbers physical senses while keeping the Sixth and themost important one with Himself for providing that to ‘His favourite devotees’ only, such as Yogiraja Krishna in dwaper-yuga (with Shiva/ Earth the Mrityulok as his Supreme Form, while he acted as His agent for the purpose known only to God as the ‘Decision Maker’) who claims himself to be the ‘real doer’ while making his own images believe themselves as the doers – because of ‘Maya’ created due to inefficient apparatuses given to animals lead by MAN the superior most creatin otherwise, the 'egotist' who cannot believe that he is an instrument, a wonderful and unmatchable creation, His Own Image, which however needs 'Supreme Knowledge' to use it to its 100% potential. And, even if one learns that the desired information is recorded within eight chakras within one's form that however need to be retrieved by the super computer in the head!

The four stages of ‘churning of the milky ocean’ in the ‘Hindu Mythology’ cryptically convey the three primary colours – ‘Red’, ‘Blue’ and ‘Yellow’ contained in white sunlight that are seen in rainbows, but with certain other colours also that result primarily from apparent combinations of these. That is, ‘Green’ seen in the middle is formed when Blue & Yellow are combined; ‘Orange’ when Red & Yellow are combined; ‘Indigo’ when Red & Blue are combined, thus these six numbers cover ‘ROYGBI’ of the spectrum. Thus the ancients appear to have concluded from this, letter ‘V’ for Vishnu the Nadbindu to also find representation through ‘Violet’, which completes the apparent balanced spectrum, represented symbolically by ‘ROYGBIV’, that has ‘G’ for Green as the absolute centre as the perfect representative of immortal Vishnu in physical form, that is the planet earth with light blue sky as one of its ‘panchbhootas’! As per the story, the first stage of churning produced ‘Visha’ that is poison called ‘halahal’ or ‘kalkoot’, (which in the present day terminology is understood to mean Potassium Cyanide or in short ‘KCn’, which sounds similar to ‘Kisan’ - coincidentally?)…that only Shiva (opposite of Visha, or image of Vishnu in physical form that is Green earth) could hold in His throat that was rendered Blue - with help coming from His consort the suppllier of ‘Amrit’ (Yellow) that became possible only at the end of Sat-yuga the age of ‘perfection’…

The ‘Hindu Mythology’, therefore, is indicated to be beyond the comprehension of ‘present day average man’, in ‘Kali-yuga’ the ‘dark age’ with one’s roots in the ‘Dark Continent’. It is primarily so because of the characteristic property of time, as conveyed in the Gita also by ‘wise advanced Indians’ or souls within human forms that - thanks to the supreme soul - had remained detached while maintaining minimum attachment with the external animal world, as reflections of characters in Sat-yuga. However, their numbers believably reduces with passage of Yugas or eras…Man was therefore called ‘Apsmara Purush’ (depicted under the foot of Natraj Shiva, i.e., the surface of earth), the person who cannot recall his past…

It is conveyed by the ‘wise advanced Hindus’ - through the mythological stories - that ‘perfection’ in human form, along with earth, also was attained at the end of Sat-yuga, literally the age of ‘Satya that is Truth’, that in physical forms represents the ‘satva that is essence’ of the universe, that is Nadbindu the point source of unlimited energy at the centre of Mother earth. Satyuga, however, is indicated to have duration of 17.28 million years, that is, four times that of a Kaliyuga. And, human efficiency range during this period believably is 100% to 75%, in view of the inherent characteristic property of matter to deteriorate with passage of time, for ‘we the people’ get to review the past - in reverse order of ‘evolution’ as it had taken place in the remote past – with the backdrop of ‘perfect earth the Bhootnath, and His panch-bhootas…

Sorry! There is a correction in the duration of Satyuga; it should read 1.728 million years…The Formless Creator or the Supreme Being believably has innumerable parts, each one of which appears to take one of the varieties of innumerable forms, which appear to fill the infinite universal void at all times… Although each one of these undergo change in appearance with passage of time, the ‘Third eye’ or ‘Ajna Chakra’ that believably houses the essence of composite Earth - representing the one who is ‘unborn’ or ‘a-jana’ - remains unchanged, and acts as the Commander or the one who orders (‘Agyan’ meaning ‘order’, whereas ‘a-gyan’ means lack of knowledge) release of information locked up at the ‘Mooladhar’ to make 'Supreme Knowledge' reach the head...that results in enlightenment...

The mythological stories also indicate Vishnu, (the ‘sudershan chakra-dhari’) to have been considered - by the advanced astronomers in ‘future’ (that appears ‘past’ in the ‘present’) – represented by the double-colour planet (lustrous copper in the middle with blue coloured rings of ice), that is, Saturn, the ninth ‘graha’ (also meaning crocodile that holds powerful elephant even in its jaws – thus symbolic of ‘locked information’ in the ‘chakras’ or ‘bandhas’, or the ninth member of the solar system, which includes Sun as well as selected eight numbers planets that apparently orbit it… The two numbers Gurus or advisors of ‘Suryavanshi kings’, that is, Kings who functioned like our Sun, and expanded their empire by using a ‘white horse’ in ‘Ashwamedha Yagya’, hints at the ‘shadows’ or energies in the form of Ultra-violet and Infra-red rays part of which - despite the ozone layer - find entry into earth’s atmosphere to be attached to white sunlight…And further, sudershan-chakra is indicated to have been used for cutting Rahu’s head as well as Parvati’s favourite son Ganesha’s human head that father Shiva, the ‘Baijnath’ or Lord of Doctors replaced with an elephant’s. And that Ganesha had the blessings of both Kali & Gauri symbolically communicates orange colour as the essence of planet Mars housed at the ‘mooladhar’ (blank at the end of Satyuga and to hold back a ‘relatively larger chunk of ‘supreme knowledge’ in Kaliyuga’)… With the above logic, which I had received in my head and discussed in detail eriler also elsewhere, I have believed the order of colour/ energies in the ascending order from Mooladhar as: Orange/ Red/ Infra-red/ White/ Ultra-violet, Blue/ Green/ Yellow at tehtop or ‘Sahasrara Chakra’…

In view of the four stages considered for completing the ‘churning’, the eight colours and energies could perhaps therefore be divided into four pairs in ascending order from ‘Mooladhar’ to ‘Saharara Chakras’: Orange-Red; Infra Red- White; Ultra Violet- Blue; Green- Yellow. We can perhaps visualize Green – Yellow to represent the most evolved forms of Earth- Moon, and also Shiva – Parvati in human form in Satyuga. And in the overall scenario, the pair of Ultra Violet- Blue, associated with Mercury & Venus to represent their son Katikeya on peacock as his vehicle; Orange – Red, ssociated with Mars and the group of asteriods to represent son Ganesha and slow moving mouse as his vehicle; while the pair of pure heat Infra Red – White, associated with Jupiter & Sun, act as source of heat and light for the family…

The heat and light producing furnace in human body, from food items, is believably located at the navel level and solar plexus level, respectively, in the human body. However, the function of life-line, that is, nerves and blood circulation to carry information/ energy to all nooks and corners of the body is performed at the chest and throat level. Surplus energy is stored at the level below the navel. However, the overall control rests with the eyes, ears and nose housed in the head…With the brief visualization of human body as a marvelous machine created in the ‘past’, being reviewed by Bhootnath Shiva and His bhootas vis-à-vis the infinite universe as they existed at a certain point in time in its various stages – all illusory in the ‘present’ perhaps led to the belief in Adbhutnath Shiva for whom life and death, both, are things related with temporary characters made from the panchbhootas and in His Own images…like sand-castles made on hre sea-shore (but unforgettable - painful or pleasant - events for the Apsmara Purush due to ‘Maya’!)…

However, it is easier said then done for all other souls than the Bhootnath Himself who, being the only ‘perfect soul’, is aware because He alone is related with zero time and, therefore, absolutely detached, whereas all other souls are imperfect and only those that had at some stage attained ‘moksha’, that is, they had got tuned to the supreme soul, would perhps be able to realize the Absolute Truth and therefore are not much moved. The above phenomenon also gets reflected in spectators of films. Some are observed to get easily moved by emotional scenes, as if the projected painful scene is happening at that particular moment on their own person. Paramhansa Yogananda also said, to the effect, that it is the souls that get attached to certain character being projected on the screen and experience similar emotions…

am still trying to understand the connection of color - infra red etc.. with the chakras at various levels in the body. It is interesting to see one of the more important areas is just below the naval - nabhi kamal.

there have been many theories to the flow of spiritual energy through the chakras,the most common one being from the bottom of the spinal cord - muladhara- to the top of the head - sahasraha.

am yet to understand the nuances of these chakras and their spiritual benefits!

Hi Kavitha, “Prabhu ki kaisi yeh maya hai/ Kahin dhoop kahin per chhaya hai,” is a popular line by some poet, meaning that sunlight and shadows are on account of illusion created by God…I had similarly extended it by exchanging ‘leela’ that is ‘drama’ for ‘maya’; and ‘dhoop & chhaya’ by ‘sookha’ & ‘guila’ that is ‘dry’ and ‘wet’… First of all one needs to convince oneself that the primary realization of ‘wise Hindus’ was that life is all about ‘Maya’ that is illusion, and in the ‘present’ it is souls or parts of point source of energy, as unlimited parts of the Supreme Soul or Nadbindu the point source of unlimited energy, who all are reviewing the drama of the past – each soul associated with some physical form out of the innumerable ones (similar to a drop in the ocean)…with the basic ‘scientific’ knowledge that energy is transferable and transformable…within human form also…believably with eight points where energy and related information is stored… When in the early seventies my wife started experiencing weakness in legs, she was advised by some doctor to receive infra-red radiation to a limited extent only at home. It was for the first time then that we had purchased an Infra-red lamp. It, however, goes without saying that it proved to be of not much use, and finally it was lying unused for long, and eventually we gave it to someone when he was similarly advised its use, (and today I am unable to recall the person!)… Perhaps it was the realization of ‘highly elevated souls’ that gave ideas to ‘Tantrics’, or ‘relatively lesser souls’, to activate the ‘mooladhar chakra’, or tailbone-end point by certain rituals related with sex, particularly utillising female forms from among the ‘low caste’, as is demonstrated by the famous example of a ‘washer-woman’ after whose name, DHUBRI, a town in lower Assam is called even today...she believably single handedly kept Moghuls away from crossing over River Brahmaputra to Assam from Bengal…History of Assam relates how the Ahom kings adopted ‘Hindu’ practices and thus ruled for 600 years in Assam region…

‘Tantrics’ advised consumption of ‘maansa’, ‘madira’ etc., i.e., meat, alcoholic drinks, and so on to accentuate ‘tamasic property’ in the subject under their influence, who approached them mainly for some material gains…In its physical form, among animals whose meat is commonly used in ‘India’, the goat exhibits to contain within its form a soul that makes the animal sure-footed and determined to rise high (similarly reflected by some birds also that fly even from Arctic region to Antarctica even or over the Himalayas as reported by Ornithologists, or in simple words the ‘bird watchers’) – with a view to reaching the mountain top/ sky - step by step! And Yogis, who withdrew to the isolation of the Himalayas, also similarly ‘spiritually speaking’ showed a spirit to attempt lifting step by step the energy at lower chakras, from one to the hhgher one, till it got concentrated at one point in the hed – the summit…

In recent times, Gautam the Buddha apparently was the ‘enlightened one’ and thus called The Light of Asia…Acharya Rajneesh also reportedly said that he wouldn’t discuss Siddhartha the person, but could talk for days about the light within the person…and everyone who has read his life history compiled by historians after his death, apparently knows what all he did, and particularly that he sat eight years under the ‘Bodhi Tree’ (of the Banyan family). However, that is not sufficient for any ‘seeker’ to similarly also get enlightened - one has believably to be ‘the chosen one’ – like Jesus Christ, in another part of the globe, but who apparently had a ‘tragic end’ unlike the Buddha’s peaceful life after physical struggle in the initial stages as a monk, which even Dalai Lama also is perhaps undergoing exiled from Tibet and provided temporary refuge in ‘India’!

Now, Taslima Nasreen, exiled from Bangla Desh that once was also part of ‘India’, also exhibits a specimen of thhe museum, called globe, that even ‘India’ finds difficult to handle - like a hot-potato, for heat for all specimens is rising globally!

As the end, of Kaliyuga that once was a beginning of the churning by Krishna, apparently approaches, the various specimens appear to be confused and helpless… Krishna explained it on account of lack of (overall) knowledge (as per ‘time’ – the most apparent in Kaliyuga the ‘dark age’).

The phenomenon could be visualized from the apparent ‘fact’ that even a small dark cloud, which might have a ‘silver lining’, doesn’t allow sunlight to reach a particular spot on earth’s surface; or just as the full-moon sometimes causes partial or full solar eclipse, when a beautiful corona might be seen from earth from certain locations)… Human life is similarly believed to be merely symbolic – the so-called ‘natural events’ thus might help realize the ups and downs in life to result from similar ‘play of light and shadows’!

‘Krishna’ says that He illuminates the Sun and the Moon. Obviously, it can’t be the ‘two legged animal’ that could at any time have said it or say so (unless it is a ‘realized soul’ - as the ‘model of universe’, that is, the centre of our planet earth (Ma Kali), or ‘an image of God’ Himself).

And, in so far as the ‘present day scientist’ is concerned, our Sun, and all other stars in the galaxy/ universe are the basic source of energy on earth – in the words of the wise souls “due to lack of overall knowledge in the ‘present’ that in fact is the projection of the ‘past’ in the life of ‘Krishna’, the model of the Centre of Milky Way Galaxy” - although they are yet to know who or how the chain reaction in their nucleii is going on for billions of years...

This feature, as a reflection of the ‘past’, could perhaps be realized from the ‘Indo-US nuke deal’, that is, the deal between ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’, as representatives of the ‘East’ and the ‘West’, respectively, which was apparently being discussed, in which the ‘Rightist West’ was trying to have it on its terms, while the ‘Leftist East’ apparently wanted the terms to be in the overall interest of the ‘life on earth till eternity’, and not the short-sighted vision of the mischievous ‘Neelamber Krishna’ (as the controller of west), who was yet to reach the ‘Peetamber’ or Yellow stage that is the full and final evolved stage of ‘Mohini form of Vishnu’ or Moon in the form of a heaveny body, whom Krishna represents (as the centre of our galaxy as the reflection of the centre of our planet earth)…

Generally speaking, ‘we the people’ appear to have a tendency to analyse a particular event based on history that is apparently being recorded by ‘imperfect humans’, for a limited period only because of so many factors that limit collection of the requisite data, unlike the record that is present in the apparent ‘perfect Nature’. And, we generally do not/ can’t start from the ‘absolute beginning’ because it would then need lot of time, which, today at least, we don’t have for in-depth studies by an individual and only part knowledge is thus available with ‘specialists’ or ‘experts’ in a particular field of activity. For example, from the observation of ‘Nature’, we know that a tree, as a reflection of human system too (as we have ‘family trees’ drawn by some – to study the effect of heredity), is not only the fruit, that it bears and which only functions as its store-house for surplus food or energy. And, that each tree and its fruits are ‘different’, and are observed to serve some useful purpose – primarily for earth, the ‘perfect model of immortal Nadbindu’ (for recycling of the matter till etenity), and also secondarily, for the ‘imperfect or temporary life forms’ or souls that it supports. We the people of the globe however due to lack of time and therefore adequate and overall knowledge want all fruits, in human forms, to reflect uniform behaviour – all ‘truthful souls’ even in Kaliyuga, as we all were in Satyuga that due to our forgetfulness, as part of the ‘grand design’, only a few, called the ‘realized souls’, believably can recall to some extent (certain Yogis are therefore sometimes seen to predict some future events even ‘today’, because life believably is about projection of events of the past related with history of Bhootnath, a small reflection of which is apparently experienced by His bhootas also at times – like ‘a flash in the pan’) !

Kavitha, ‘Chakras’ within human bodies can be visualized as reflecting the hierarchy in the variety of formless, or point sources of energy, that represent the essences of the selected members of the planetary system at each of which the particular form is connected with the corresponding planet, like - similarly as a model of its functioning - a puppet’s different limbs are connected by the puppeteer who manipulates a particular finger to move the desired limb with the help of strings tied to different fingers (in human hands also fingers believably represent planets)…

He iwas realized by the ‘wise’ to remain unseen within all human forms and communicates the ‘Truth’ to the ‘grown ups’ even through children. But unfortunately, during oiur prime time in youth, due to lack of knowledge, ‘we the grown ups’, or Apsmara Purush the forgetful man, are given to understand that we are more intelligent than them! It is thus only in the ‘second childhood stage’ that a ‘grown up’, being at the same mental level, might realize when and if one were to observe and analyse also how the ‘grand children’ seek appreciation from ‘us’ with their creations – sketches and paintings! Perhaps, it is only the ‘poets’, ‘artists’, and worshippers too in their own way appreciate the ‘Nature’ or creation of Adbhutnath Shiva…

But, because of ‘Maya’, the majority appears to behave like jackal the animal that howls in unison with the leader of the pack and subsists on ‘the left overs’ unaware that there is a lion-like ruler within each form, who is waiting to show the ‘Truth’ – as ‘wise Hindus’ have referred to Krishna as the cause of ‘Maya’ or illusion! He only seeks ‘surrender in Him’, just as Arjuna believably did when he was given the ‘divine eyes’, that is, the Yogirja Krishna, as his Guru helped him to activate his ‘Ajna Chakra’. In fact the Gita was believably narrated by Sanjaya - who was similarly blessed by his Guru – to the naturally blind Dhritrashtra when both were seated in the palace away from the battle field! Hindu Mythology thus conveys that anybody can reach the ‘Truth’, if only one seeks it. There are many characters cited in different stories who were believably the ‘realized souls’…

Even St. Mathew says in the New Testament (7:7 & 8) – “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”